Dupage Opts To Recycle Latex Paint

Trying to stem the tide of paint being dumped down drains or in the garbage, DuPage County this spring will begin accepting cans of leftover latex paints for recycling.

The county program is being started just as the City of Naperville has stopped accepting paint at its hazardous waste center. Any cans being brought to the county will be recycled with a newly purchased $20,000 machine that crushes the cans to one-third of an inch while expelling the paint from inside and mixing it together to be given away.

"It all comes together into one big collection of paint," said Kyle Gilgis, a County Board member who chairs its Solid Waste Committee. "It usually ends up the color beige."

Plans have not been completed as to how the paint will be given away, but Gilgis said it could go to local governments or private citizens who want it as a primer. Gilgis said she doesn't care how the paint is given away, as long as it is used.

"Our main concern is getting this paint out of the sewers," she said. "We want to stop that practice."

County officials estimate that more than 30,000 gallons of paint are disposed of annually. Although latex paint is not considered toxic, if it is dumped into sewers it can cause harm to the local water supply, said County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom.

"If people dump paint down the drain, that's a big problem," he said. "It ends up in the river or somewhere else where it could hurt our watersheds."

County collections are to begin May 5 and continue on the first Saturday of every month through October, Gilgis said.